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Chuck Waldron

The CleanSweep Conspiracy

Synopsis

In this riveting political conspiracy thriller, investigative blogger Matt Tremain is covering devastating riots in Toronto when he learns of a plot to rid the city of “undesirables.” The operation is called CleanSweep, and appears to be led by billionaire Charles Claussen, who want to sweep Toronto clean of all street people and any citizens who don’t match his restrictive screening matrix. With the help of a high-ranking government official, Claussen plans to incite riots and unrest, conning Torontonians into sacrificing privacy and civil liberties for illusionary security and safety. If Claussen gets his way, Toronto will be reduced to a repressive city-state.
Matt questions whether he has the courage, skill, or influence to take on Claussen. The murder of one of his sources convinces the blogger to put his life on the line. To combat Claussen, Matt needs allies—but is anyone immune to Claussen’s toxic message? Matt gambles on the loyalty of a Toronto police detective and a local TV reporter. If his trust is misplaced, Matt will become yet another victim of CleanSweep, and the truth will be buried with him forever.

Author Biography

Chuck Waldron is the author of four riveting mystery, thriller and suspense novels and more than fifty short stories. Inspired by his grandfather’s tales of the Ozark Mountains and local caves rumored to be havens for notorious gangsters, Waldron was destined to write about crime and the human condition. Those childhood legends ignited his imagination and filled his head with unforgettable characters, surprising plots and a keen interest in supernatural and historical subplots.
With literary roots planted in the American Midwest and South, and enriched by many years living in the fertile cultural soil of metropolitan Ontario, Waldron now resides on Florida’s fabled Treasure Coast with his wife, Suzanne. While keeping an eye out for hurricanes, alligators, and the occasional Burmese python, visitors will find Waldron busy writing his next crime thriller.

Author Insight

How much privacy would you be give up in exchange

Angela Vaughn never gave that question much thought, until now. A former police officer, she believed in the opinion that you don't have to worry about surveillance if you've never done anything wrong. Still, she did have a way of communicating that avoided the terms of her contract, "no unapproved communications devices."

Book Excerpt

The CleanSweep Conspiracy

Angela Vaughn recognized the signal: a double-click code. It came from her radio, mimicking the sound of static. She knew it wasn’t. Looking around to see if anyone had noticed, she reached in her shoulder bag for a throwaway cell phone, a phone she wasn’t supposed to have. When she was hired, Charles Claussen made it clear there were to be no unapproved communication devices for her, or anyone else who worked for him.

It was even written into her employment contract. She also had to allow the company to put a tap on her separate communication devices—her personal cell and her home landline. Claussen founded and built the Enseûrtech network of communications himself, so his com channels were to be the only ones used, especially by his security people. He had a burning need to know everything that happened anywhere within his company’s operations.

It was Angela’s job to enforce the rule about unapproved com devices, but she was about to break that rule.

The system was designed to allow Claussen to personally monitor any wireless transmissions or electronic messages.

“I have this one with me twenty-four hours a day,” he’d once told her, producing a small handheld receiver. “I can listen to people at random—or target a particular employee, if necessary,” he’d said with a smile that bordered on a smirk. “I developed the software program to pick up keywords, to decipher attempts at message coding, and to strangle any attempts at deception or betrayal.” He’d put the radio away as he continued. “I keep track of small details. Believe me, I have an uncanny way of knowing when to listen in on someone.”

Angela Vaughn knew it was his custom to browse through e-mails. On occasion, he would send a blistering message to a department supervisor about something he had seen. Whenever he did, the targeted name would usually disappear from the Enseûrtech payroll.

Angela knew Claussen monitored all the two-way radio traffic, the signals she used to communicate with her field teams. She knew his obsession meant he would almost certainly be listening tonight, eager for any news about the TV reporter or her cameraman—along with any sighting of Matt Tremain.

Screw him, she thought. She would never have said that aloud.

She had ways of talking to her trusted security connections without his ever knowing about it.